Unlocking the Past
by FabinaxJara-SiBuNa
Summary: Melanie Martin has always wondered who she really was. A fatherless outcast? Maybe, but when she and her mother travel to England for three weeks, the secrets start unraveling, and a mystery comes along that could mean life- or death.
1. House of Melanie Martin

**Hey Guys! So I haven't written anything in a while, but Season 2 of HoA has inspired me to get back to writing! I've been writing this story for a little while, so I have about 5 or 6 of the chapters already done, so the only thing that would prevent me from updating would be a lack of reviews which I'm sure (hopefully!) wont be a problem :) **

****I've had this fic up for a week or two and saw that I wasn't getting the amount of readers I was hoping for. So I checked my story traffic and saw that Chapter 1 alone had over 100 visitors! But then the number dropped to about 30 for Chapter 2, so I figured I needed a MUCH stronger 1****st**** Chapter! So this is my new edited version, hopefully it's a lot better than what it originally was!**

**And trust me, this is not some cliché, OOC story. It's going to be really good, trust me! It'll have a mystery, romance, and TONS of Drama.**

**I really hope you guys like it!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own House of Anubis, but I do own Melanie!**

"Melanie!" I heard my mother cry from upstairs. I sighed and trudged up the stairs of our small house. There wasn't much too it, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a common room, a kitchen and dining room.

There was also an attic, but there was never anything up there. I highly suspected my mom even knew about it. It was one of the only places where I could just disappear and go to think.

The main reason of why I just absolutely loved the house though, was because it was located right on the beach. The beach was like my connection to the world. I couldn't explain it, but I always just felt so…involved when I was sitting in the sand watching the waves crash onto the shore.

I ran up my stairs to see what my mom wanted from me. I saw her in her suit for work, brushing the remaining knots out of her hair. She smiled at me.

My mother was very beautiful; long, dirty blonde hair that was somewhat a mix of waves and curls. A bright smile that could always light up anyone's day.

And then there were her eyes, I always heard people saying that my mother had the most beautiful blue-green eyes. And they happened to be the only thing I had inherited from her. Well, as far as appearance went. I also inherited her stubborn personality, and I was always told that we had that same look of determination whenever we worked at something.

Even though my mother was pretty, and many men did fancy her, I didn't have someone to call my dad. I obviously had a father, but I had no idea who he was or anything about him for that matter. I had a single picture of him and her mother from when they were in their teen years that I had found in her drawer once, but that was it. My mother said I inherited my looks and my brains from my dad, but other than that, she would mention nothing else about him.

"Yes mom?" I asked blowing a few strands of my long black hair out of my eyes.

"Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?" She asked me referring to our trip to England.

My mother had a business meeting at some special museum. She studied a lot of Ancient Egyptian artifacts and whatnot so they were going to London to see if they could donate a few of their artifacts for another new exhibition at my mother's museum. Mom wasn't too excited about going to England, we were going to be there for 3 weeks and she wanted to be out of there as soon as she could, but I didn't bother to ask why.

"Yes, everything's packed and in my room." I responded, I was excited about traveling, but I figured that spending the last three weeks before school starts in another country would be rather difficult.

"Good, now, I suggest you go off and give your friends a phone call before we leave, and I have a feeling you might want to stop by the beach?" I nodded "Go ahead, but don't you _dare _step foot in that water! It's freezing out there!"

I smiled and went to call my best friend (or _only friend)_ Cassie McDonahue. She was upset I was leaving, but I made note that it wasn't forever and I would be returning in a matter of weeks.

"You better call me every day," Cassie said "Or I'm going to have to fly out there myself and beat you up."

"Don't worry, I'll be in touch with you whenever I can," I assured her."Besides, as soon as I get back, school will start up again and we'll get to see each other every day." I added

We said goodbye and I hung up before running outside and towards the entrance to the beach. I was so lucky we lived so close to it.

I wouldn't dare go into the water now. Besides my mother's simple yet threatening words and even though it was the start of August, we had just been hit by brutal storms and winds. Plus, it was chilly out this afternoon, and there wasn't a sight of the sun. It was sure to be freezing.

But the water looked so tempting.

I took off my shoes and left them on the side. The beach was deserted as far as I could tell which gave me a sense of peacefulness. I looked across the ocean, knowing I'd be traveling across it very soon. I smiled and looked behind me at the gate…I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't see me if I took a quick step in…

I ran towards the water, as soon as my foot touch it, I felt the numbing cold and pulled back but then ran in against my reaction. I only went to about my knees since I was currently wearing shorts at the moment. I smiled and looked down into the clear water and saw my feet all covered in sand and shells. I hugged my arms around me and felt the world going peacefully silent around me…

Until I heard my mother shouting of course.

"Melanie Elizabeth Sarah Martin! What do you think you are doing in there?"

**So I'm just 'assuming' you know who her mother is. But if you don't, it's a mystery you'll have to wait and see until the next time I update this. **

**So I'm hoping if you read this once and are now seeing it again, I hope you liked this chapter better! If not, I still suggest for you to read on and see what else is happening, or at least review to let me know how I can improve my writing!**

**Review Please!**


	2. House of New Friends

**Next chapter, even though I didnt get the amount of reviews I wanted (I only got one!) So if you're reading this, and you like it, Please, PLEASE review!**

**Hope you enjoy it!  
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"Mom, why are you taking away my phone! We're going on a vacation! I need my phone to get in contact with my friends and stuff!" I complained as my mother removed my phone from my hands and packed it in her suitcase.

"First of all, Melanie, are you aware how much it would cost to contact your friends from over there? A lot of money. Second, you know for a fact that I said no beach!" My mother, Nina Martin replied.

"But, mom,-"

"No buts!" My mother said sternly, I sighed and began walking out of the room, "Hurry up now Melanie, we need to catch our flight."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX-One Flight Later-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

I yawned as we got off the plane and called a cab. I'm almost pretty sure I fell asleep in the cab and my mother carried me into the hotel room. I wouldn't be surprised either, because for a thirteen year old, I only weigh about 98 pounds.

I dreamed peacefully that night, even though I was still mad about mom taking my phone away. The last thing I remember about my good dream was Cassie laughing over me falling over and hurting myself.

But that was where the nightmare began.

"_Melanie…"_ I heard a voice whisper. I shot up in the hotel bed and saw my mother sound asleep in the one next to me.

"_Melanie…"_ came the whisper again.

"Who's there?" I whisper-shouted extremely frightened.

"_The eye calls to you Melanie, and the secret will remain buried within…" _ The voice whispered, slowly fading away. I screamed and broke out into cold sweat.

"What eye? What secret!" I screamed. I covered my ears to get the voice out of my head. I closed my eyes just as my mother woke up and came to put her arms around me.

"It's ok, Melanie. Everything's ok, I'm right here! It was just a nightmare." My mother comforted me. She held me in her arms and sang to me. I don't remember the song she sang, I only remember that it put me to sleep almost instantly.

XxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When I woke up the next morning, my mother was out of bed and all changed sitting next to me and stroking my hair.

"Are you OK? You were pretty frightened last night; you want to tell me what happened?" She asked.

"It was nothing," I said quickly nodding my head and sitting up. I got out of bed and got changed into a white T-shirt, black skinny jeans and my favorite pair of converse.

"We have to go straight to the museum so I can talk something over with the head of the Egyptian Artifacts exhibits. But we can grab a bite to eat right after," My mom explained. I nodded my head, grabbed my navy blue coat and we headed out the door.

England seemed like a very…elegant place. Everybody I saw was very formal and polite. Much different from America. We arrived at the museum within minutes and I automatically told my mom I was going to go off exploring. She gave me back my cell phone so if I got lost or something I could call her, and _only _her. She made that clear enough.

I was walking through an exhibit on Ancient Rome, something about The Coliseum, when I ran into someone. More like they ran into me actually.

I looked down at the person who had fallen on the ground and offered my hand. They took it and righted themselves on their feet. I took a glance at them.

It was a girl, about my age, 12, 13 years old possibly? She had Dark brown hair and hazel eyes, but she had pale skin and a bright smile. She wore light shades of make-up on her face and had a very casual dress on, which happened to be pink, a color I despised.

"Sorry 'bout that," The girl said in a heavy British accent "I can't find my mum and dad, or my younger brother anywhere! I thought maybe they came this way…guess not,"

I just nodded my head and gave a shy smile to the girl.

"Where are my manners?" The girl said and held out her hand "I'm Susan Lewis, but everyone calls me Suzy."

"Melanie Martin," I said taking her hand and shaking it.

"Ooh! Maybe your mum and dad can help me find mine! Do you know where they are by any chance?"

"No, my mom's at a meeting at the moment somewhere in the museum… and I don't exactly have a dad." I admitted.

"Oh, my goodness, I'm, like, so sorry!" the girl apologized.

"It's ok," I replied.

"Would you care to hang out with me? This museum is, like, really easy to get lost in and I'd rather have a partner with me around here,"

"Umm, sure," I said and smiled. I think I just made my first British friend.

So we walked around the museum and talked for a while. She found my American accent hilarious apparently and I told her I found hers intriguing.

"So, what's it like having a younger sibling?" I asked fascinated.

"Ugh, it's horrible! It requires, like, so much work! And he's 12! You'd think he'd act more mature for his age but no! Plus, he constantly likes to pull pranks on me or scam me or whatever."

"He can't be that bad!" I replied smiling at her.

"Oh trust me it is," she said and rolled her eyes. She looked to her left and noticed something "Charlie!" She cried and ran toward a boy who looked about our age but I could tell he was younger. He had a much darker skin tone then Suzy did, but he still had the same brown hair and hazel eyes. I walked over to the two.

"I'm guessing this is your brother?" I asked Suzy.

"Yes, indeed he is. Charlie, this is Melanie; Melanie, this is the bane of my existence, Charlie," Suzy introduced me. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"What a lovely sister I have, don't you think?" Charlie replied sarcastically and stuck his tongue out at his sister. He just grinned at me before turning back to Suzy.

"Susan, Mum and Dad have been looking all over for you, come here," He said and looked over at me, "And I guess you should bring your friend here too."

So the three of us walked down a few hallways and into a cafeteria where I saw a pretty blonde woman and handsome dark skinned man. They saw Suzy and they're eyes lit up. The blonde woman, who was easily in her early 30's, just like my mother, ran to embrace Suzy.

"Dear, why did you run off like that? You had me and your father worried sick!" She cried.

"I'm ok, Mum, I just got lost. Anyways, I made a new friend!" Suzy said waving me over "Mum, Dad, this is Melanie Martin, from America."

As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Lewis heard the name Martin, they seemed to go blank, as if remembering something, but they soon turned and smiled at me.

"Well, then, nice to meet you. Would you like to join us for some breakfast? We're about to head into town, would you're parents let you come along?" Mrs. Lewis asked me.

"Umm, I'm not exactly sure; I'd have to check with my mom…" I replied nervously.

"Well, would you like us to come with you to help you find her? Maybe we could all go out together?" Mr. Lewis suggested. I nodded my head and smiled nervously once again.

**So once again, if you liked, review! If you have any comments, questions or confusions you can either reach me through a review or a PM :) **

~FabinaxJara-SiBuNa


	3. House of Reunions

**So, it's that awkward moment when you have almost the ENTIRE STORY finished but you don't back it up, and then your computer gets a virus and wipes out all your documents -.- **

**It's not going to be easy, and updates probably won't be as frequent as I would like them to be but I'm going to try as hard as I can to write!**

**Here's the next chapter everybody!**

We wandered around for a bit until I saw the back of my mom's curly hair. I ran towards her.

"Mom!" She turned around and smiled at me.

"Find anything interesting in the exhibits?" She asked me turning to check something written underneath a really old looking book.

"Not really in the exhibit itself, more around the exhibit area…I made my first British friend!" I exclaimed happy and my mom smiled. Me making a new friend so quickly was a rarity.

"That's great, now you'll have someone to hang out with hopefully for the next few weeks," She replied "Of course, when we're not spending time together. What's her name? Where is she?"

"Her names Suzy, and she's, Umm…" I looked around before spotting Suzy and her family staring at one of the Egyptian artifact walls "She's right over there. Her parents invited us out for breakfast too,"

"I don't know about that, Mel. Let me meet them first."

We walked toward the Lewis family and I saw my mom try to relax.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, This is my mom, Nina Martin," I smiled expecting the normal type of meeting between adults.

That's not really what I saw.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis stiffened and turned around slowly, their faces in an obvious state of shock. My mom looked like she was about to run away, and not come back.

"A-Alfie? Amber?" My mom questioned. Funny, I don't remember ever hearing or mentioning Mr. and Mrs. Lewis' first name.

"Nina?" Mr. Lewis took a step forward, but Mrs. Lewis was still in shock. I looked over at Suzy and gave her a questioning look, but she looked just as confused as I was.

Suddenly Mrs. Lewis jumped at my mom and threw her arms around her shrieking, "_NINA MARTIN, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"_

"Mom? What's going on?" I spoke up as I noticed people were starting to stare.

"Yea, Mum, Dad, what the hell is going on?" Suzy sounded annoyed as she came up behind me.

"Susan Nina Lewis, Watch that tongue!" Mrs. Lewis stopped suffocating my mother and turned on her eldest child.

"Says he woman who just used the same word," Suzy scoffed rolling her eyes.

"I can put that bank account of yours on hold missy," Mr. Lewis threatened and Suzy fell on her knees in a rush.

"I'm sorry Mummy and Daddy I will _never_ use that kind of language ever EVER again! I love you," She batted her eyelashes at them. She had been talking so fast I had barely heard a word she had said with the British accent of hers.

"Mom, I'm still kind of waiting here. Do you three know each other?" I stared at all the adults, waiting for an explanation.

"Know each other? Sweetheart, your mother and I are Best Friends! In fact, why don't you just call me Auntie Amber!" Mrs. Lewis was smiling and squealing like a teenage girl. My mother was ghost white and looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Amber, maybe we should rewind and tell them a little bit first," My mom said.

"Great Idea Neens, we were actually just about to head out for breakfast, would you like to join us?" 'Auntie Amber' asked my mom, who while still looking uncomfortable sighed and nodded.

"Sure Amber sounds great. I just have to check out. I'm helping run the exhibition going on for the next three weeks, and today I had to come in to meet the owner. Could you just keep an eye on Melanie for a second?" She asked and Mrs. Lewis nodded. I turned to Suzy and Charlie.

"How strange is it that I ran into you two? The odds of something like this little reunion are one in a million," I said shocked. I reached for a hair tie on my wrist and pulled my black wavy hair into a high ponytail.

"I know right? It must be fate!" Suzy squealed and clapped her hands. I rolled my eyes and laughed. Charlie walked over to his dad, who was heading toward the front doors.

"Has your mom ever mentioned my mom? Or anything about, say, High school?" I questioned Suzy curiously. She shook her head.

"Nothing I can remember, the only thing we ever hear about high school is it was how Mum and Dad met…" She trailed off "I've never heard of a Martin, or anything about her other friends from school really. Well actually that's a lie too…"

"What's a lie?" I walked toward the closed exhibit doors where my mom would be moving shipments in and out of the next few days.

"My mum and dad have kept in touch with a lot of their old friends. Actually, all of them. If what my mum said was true, and your mum was her best friend, then I wonder why they didn't keep in touch."

Once Suzy explained this to me, I found it to be completely strange. I knew my mom hid things from me. No doubt about that. She told me almost nothing from her past, but something like this?

"Anyways, we should get going, look there's your mum and my mum at the front door," Suzy linked her arm through mine and dragged me out of the museum.

After walking about 20 minutes ( Mrs. Lewis insisted that we walked being that the day was lovely and it'd be more open for chatting) we arrived at a Bakery-Café called 'C'est Unne Bonne'.

"That's French, right?" I asked openly staring at the sign in the store window "For 'It's Good?"

"_Oui Oui_," My mother replied, "I see you've been studying,"

"Well, if I want to pass at least _one _of my classes…" My mother stared crossly at me before lightening her facial expression and smiling. She knew I was doing fine in my classes. I was just glad to see her smile; she had been mentally freaking out the whole walk over while talking with "Auntie Amber"

"So Neens, where should we start?" Mrs. Lewis asked once we had been seated at a table outside. My mother looked slightly uncomfortable and I couldn't blame her. I would be nervous about telling my daughter a secret of everything I had been keeping from her for 13 years. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting patiently.

My mother closed her eyes and inhaled "How about, just me coming to the school?"

"Ok great!" Mrs. Lewis countered "So, back in our tenth year, we were all boarded in the Anubis house at that boarding school you're going to be attending this fall, Suzy,"

"Oh I am SO excited! All of my friends are going there; it's going to be a blast!" Suzy exclaimed happily, I rolled my eyes and smiled. She would get over-excited about boarding school.

"Yes, so anyways, Nina here was a new student and it was actually really strange because your Aunt Patricia dared her to go to the attic and then this weird old lady showed up and Fa-_OUCH!"_ A kick was heard under the table and I knew my mom had sent it. She looked at Mrs. Lewis sending a warning message and Mrs. Lewis closed her eyes and nodded in pain, "So we all became friends, The End!"

"So then, why did my mom move back to America without keeping in contact with any of her 'friends'?" I was still curious, and I still wanted answers. What if my dad was one of these 'friends' from her boarding school?

"Oh, look, Food's here!" My mom smiled and avoided the question. I glared at her, and she knew that I was going to ask about it later.

"Well anyways Neens, it's great that you're here! We should get everybody together!" Mrs. Lewis exclaimed and Mr. Lewis started shaking his head.

"Everybody?" My mom turned pale again but Mr. Lewis attempted to save the day…for my mom at least.

"Sweetheart, maybe that's not such a good idea, I mean Nina and Melanie are probably going to be very busy on their vacat-," Mrs. Lewis cut him off.

"Oh nonsense! Nina, this Saturday is going to be Suzy's 14th birthday party, and she probably doesn't want us there anyway, so a bunch of us were going to go out to eat. Melanie can come to the party for Suzy and you can come out to dinner with us!"

"Oh mum your right! Come on Mel, it'll be so much fun! You can meet all my friends! Oh and we HAVE to go shopping to get out a nice outfit!" Suzy was practically bouncing out of her seat with excitement.

"Sure, sounds fun," I smiled at her and then looked at my mom "Please Mom?"

"Yea, Please Neens? Everybody's going to be there! Jerome and Mara, Patricia and Eddie, Mick and Joy _just _got engaged last week so we'll be congratulating them! I invited Fa- I mean 'You know who' but they always decline. I haven't seen him in ages, Neens." I wasn't sure which name it was that set my mother off, but I'm pretty sure it was either Mick or Joy and whoever 'You know who' was, was also sending out a red light.

"Sure…Amber…Sounds Great," My mother sounded distant and pushed her plate back "You know, I'm not really hungry anymore, and Mel we should get going. Places to be, people to see," She stood up.

"Aw come on mom," I pushed back my plate too and looked over at Suzy.

"Melanie Elizabeth Sarah, NOW" I scurried after my mother and turned around.

"It was great meeting you all!" I smiled and even my mom, out of respect, turned around and waved smiling. They all waved back.

"I put my number in your phone Mel! Text Me!" I heard Suzy cry and I nodded turning back around.

Before completely turning on the street corner, I heard Suzy shriek, "Ew Charlie! Who puts chocolate syrup on their eggs?"

"What it tastes better this way!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom crack a smile.

**So when I originally wrote this chapter *Starts crying* (I seriously can't believe the whole story got erased…**

**But anyways when this chapter was originally written it was very different! Not as good, not as long, so I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**Review? Please? **

**Oh and one more thing, I'm completely obsessed with this website called Polyvore, if you haven't heard of it, it's a website where you can put together outfits, so I'm going to be using it for this story, I'm probably not going to do EVERY outfit I describe in this story (Unless you guys want me too) but I'll be putting links up on my profile (You can see a few sneak previews on some upcoming characters and upcoming outfits (: So if you want, check me out on polyvore, my username is guitarchick27 **

**Now what are you still doing reading this? Review!**


	4. House of Contrasting Names

**OK guys I have NOT gotten the review turn out I'd been hoping for.**

**So what I would really appreciate (and this may sound strange) But I'm DYING for some constructive critism. Not exactly a flame, but just if you don't like the story, I'd like to know what's wrong so that I am able to go back, edit and improve. If you think something seems off PLEASE let me know **

**Anyways here is Chapter 4…**

**And DON'T BE SCARED BY THE WORD COUNT, I left a really long authors note at the end of this explaining my new Question of The Day thing I know that you guys will like ;)**

**Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own House of Anubis or any of its characters, I do however own my own OC's**

"Well 'Mum'," I spoke to my mother in a British accent to my mother when we got back to the hotel "Where are we going first?"

"First, I was kind of thinking we could stay in the hotel? Order some room service and relax? Maybe later we'll go out for dinner I saw a nice little restaurant not far from here.

"Sounds interesting, but I was _really _hoping we could do some sight-seeing. I saw some interesting places and Suzy mentioned a few interesting places to visit while we were here.

"We'll get to that Mel, I promise, but I just ran into some old friends and things are kind of happening way too fast," My mother gave me a tired look as she sat down on her bed. I figured I would send her some pity.

"Sure, it's fine Mom," I smiled at her, she smiled back. I then proceeded to look out the glass doors that lead to a balcony outside.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Anything Mel," My mother sighed sweetly. I turned to face her, nervously trying to approach the question that had been bugging me.

"What are you hiding from me?" My mother's eyes went wide and she went to say something but I cut her off, "Please don't say 'Nothing' or please don't make up any lies. I want the truth mom; I've wanted the truth for 13 years,"

"Melanie, it's not that simple-" My mother began; she stood up from the bed and started walking towards me.

"Mom it's _so _incredibly simple!" I felt my voice beginning to rise, but I saw the startled look on my mother's face and lowered my voice "I just want to know. What happened here? In England, in that mysterious boarding school that I have never heard one inkling about!"

My mother sighed and held her head in her hands. She nervously twirled the silver charm bracelet, I had never seen her once take off, around her wrist and then looked up at me.

"I went to the boarding school when I was in the 10th grade. Your grandparents had died when I was 7, and your Great Gran thought it would be good if I went to the school where my father had always dreamed of going, but had never gotten into," My mom just talked about my grandparents. I knew they were a touchy subject for her.

"So you came to school here in England then?" She nodded "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Look Melanie, I'm a bit tired right now, I'm gonna take a nap before I have to go back to the museum, but tomorrow's Monday and the Museum will be closed so we can go out and spend the whole day together. How does that sound?"

"Fine. Can I at least have my phone back? I want to ask Suzy where some cool places to go around here are," She sighed and dug in her pocket for my phone.

"I'm going to let you have it back for the rest of the trip, but one wrong move missy and I'll snatch it back from you," She gave me a stern stare but her expression then softened and she smiled, "Don't go too far, you don't really know your way around here yet."

"You got it, dude" I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She laughed remembering our obsession with _Full House_ last year. Every night before bed we would watch an episode. For her birthday, I bought her the complete boxed set of all 8 seasons.

She gave me a thumbs up back and went to go take her nap. Grabbing my bag and swinging it over my right shoulder, I proceeded to text Suzy.

I didn't get a reply right away so I wandered around the hotel for a bit. I came to a really grand dining hall. Like really fancy-shmancy stuff. Chandelier and candle-sticks and angels on the ceiling fancy.

"Excuse me miss, no loitering." A very tall British man with a bright look in his green eyes said smiling at me. I shrugged my bag onto my left shoulder and nodded my head, pushing some stray black locks behind my ears.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-" I began to apologize as the man's expression changed. His nose wrinkled as though he had smelled something foul.

"Of course, Americans," he grumbled "Very well then, out!" He pointed towards the exit as I hurried along "This room is for the use of parties only, I hope I do not have to see you in here again."

"Rude much?" I whispered under my breath. I decided I would explore the area around the hotel. I saw the entrance to a park a few blocks down and decided to walk there. I felt my iPhone vibrate in my pocket, it was a text from Suzy.

_Looking for fun places to tour hmm? How about we go shopping!_

I felt a shiver run through my spine. I had a feeling shopping with Suzy would _not _be the best thing to be doing at the moment.

Shopping's not really my thing Suze. I found a park, I'm gonna take a walk if you want to join me.

_The park on 42__nd__ Avenue?_

I checked the street sign to make sure that was the correct address.

That's the one.

_Ok if I come by car it'll take me 5 minutes…do you think I have time to change outfits?_

Just get here whenever, K?

_Gotcha Mel ;) I'll txt you when I get there_

KayKay

I had finally crossed 42nd Avenue and entered through the park entrance. I smiled at how similar it was to the park in my own town. Families playing, kids running, people jogging or walking their dogs. The only difference was the tones of the voices in the air were heavy British accents. Very different then the New Yorker accents I was used to hearing.

I found myself lost in a train of thought when I heard someone call out behind me, "Watch Out!"

I turned just in time to see a boy riding on his skateboard slam straight into me. I fell over and landed on my butt.

"Hey, watch where the hell your going!" I screamed at the boy who had flown through the air, luckily landing on the grass. I got up and brushed away the dirt on my knee caps. I then went over to the fallen kid.

He had rusty blonde hair that was gelled upward and a round face. He was wearing a plaid black and white shirt and baggy jeans which were definitely a big no-no for skateboarding. You'll easily trip wearing baggy jeans. He wore black Nike's on his feet and red beats around his neck along with a puka necklace. He apparently had been wearing a grey beanie also, but it had fallen a good foot away from him after he fell.

"Umm could you not yell at me? My head's kind of spinning here," He said slowly pushing himself up to his elbows and wiping off the grass stains on them.

"Well you should take caution where you're going," I crossed my arms over my chest as he looked up at me with these gorgeous brown eyes.

"_Well you should take caution where you're going,"_ he mimicked my American accent laughing and pulling himself up to his feet. I rolled my eyes, taking back that 'gorgeous brown eyes' comment I had just made in my head.

"Whatever," I replied not thinking of anything else to say "Just be careful where your headed next time,"

"Yea, I wouldn't want to run into any feisty Americans again," he laughed again and I just raised my eyebrow at him. He stopped laughing and held out his hand for a shake.

"Sorry, I'm just playing around. I'm Jason. Jason Sweet." He gave this cocky grin and winked at me. I smiled smugly at him.

"What a contrasting name to your personality," I turned around and picked up his skateboard to hand it to him.

"Well what's your name little miss sunshine?" He asked getting defensive. I opened my mouth to reply when I heard Suzy shout from behind us.

"I'm-"

"Melanie!" I sighed as I heard someone call from behind me and Jason smiled. Suzy ran up behind me and gave me a hug, then looking over to Jason gave a puzzled look.

"Jason?" She looked at me and then back at Jason "What are you doing here?"

"You know him?" I asked incredulously "He just ran me over with his skateboard."

"Hey, I didn't run you over Sunshine. You were in my way and I called for you to watch out."

"If you haven't inferred with that probably peanut sized brain of yours, my name is Melanie." I felt my fists clench, getting fed up with this boy by the second.

"I'm hearing words coming out of your mouth Sunshine, but I can't quite understand them. Must be that daft American accent." This boy was really pushing it now.

"Well-" I took a step towards him but Suzy pushed us apart.

"Stop fighting! I've only been here five minutes and you both look like you're going to throw fists t each other," Suzy tried to dispel the tension.

"I bet Sunshine here couldn't hit me hard enough if she tried," Jason rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You want to test that theory of yours?" I felt my fists clenching again but Suzy held me back.

"Look fighting's not going to get you two anywhere and let's face it you're probably going to be seeing a lot of each other in the next week," Suzy explained.

"Why?" Jason questioned "I figured this would be the first, and hopefully last, time I would have to see her," He looked me up and down and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yea, who is he?" I was equally confused. Suzy crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm not telling either one of you until you apologize," She said sternly, looking at both of us. We both stared at each other.

"Fine," I was shocked to hear him be the first to back down. He held his hand out towards mine "I was just playing around, sorry I ran into you."

I sighed and grabbed his hand to shake it. It was cold, but had a warm feeling to it "And I'm sorry for making a big deal out of it,"

Suzy smiled and clapped her hands "OK guys, Jason, this is Melanie Martin. Melanie, this is Jason Sweet," I nodded my head at her and she just stared at me expectantly with her hazel eyes and smiled.

"And this explains who he is how?..." I waited for an explanation.

"Oh, well I don't know if you remember at breakfast but my Mum mentioned some of the kids our parents used to go to school with," Suzy explained and then pointing at Jason said "Jason here, happens to be the son of Eddie and Patricia Sweet. Or I like to call them Aunt Trixie and Uncle Ed,"

"You know they both hate those nicknames," Jason said and Suzy just smiled and nodded at him "Well anyways, how do you know Sunshine here?"

"Please stop calling me Sunshine!"

"Nah, I think it suits you," He gave me this lopsided grin and I just rolled my eyes, annoyed, yet smiled back at him.

"Well, anyways," Suzy started "Melanie happens to be the daughter of somebody else who went to boarding school with our parents. Did either of yours ever mention a Nina Martin?"

Jason looked down for a second to think "I don't think so, but Mum and Dad haven't talked about school in forever. I mean maybe once the name came up…but I'm not sure. Martin is a really common name,"

"I know, it gets really annoying. But yea we've pretty much established that my mom has wiped off her history in England from the face of the earth just as your 'Mums and Dads' have wiped her off," I complained. I hated the fact that this whole thing was so secretive.

"We'll figure it out eventually Mel. But for now, were off!" Suzy said dragging me by the arm. I looked at Jason giving him a questioning look. He shrugged his shoulders at me smiling and then saluted at me as he turned around and got on his skateboard.

"Off to where?" I got a bit nervous as I saw a crazed glare in her eyes.

"Shopping!"

**So yea, it's taken me FOREVER to update this but don't worry, I'll start updating them a lot sooner!**

**For those of you reading this and liking the plot line, reviews really motivate me to write faster (Ehh? Ehhhh?)**

**I thought this particular chapter was quite long, I edited a BUNCH of times so it would be perfect, but I always manage to get something wrong…**

**Oh and there's this new thing I'm going to be doing:**

**So every time I update this story from now on, I'll be asking a question. It might be a personal question or an informational question. Now if you get the question right, or if you have the best response to a question(i.e. Funny, interesting, informational) You will win:**

**1.A Dedication in the next updated chapter  
>2.A Favorite Author + (if you have an account)<br>3.I will read your stories and you can choose one for me to give a shoutout to when I update this(if you have an account)**

**And MY personal favorite:  
>4. If you have a one-shot idea (or two-shot if it has potential) that you want to give me, I'll do my best to write it for you!<strong>

**This last one works a little differently though. In order for me to write the one-shot, you have to get my BONUS RIDDLE. Which most of the time is going to be kind hard-ish but you guys are smart so I'm sure you'll get it!**

So the FIRST question of the day IS:

**When is Brad Kavanagh's Birthday? **

**(Most of you will probably just look this up online, but for those of you who knew it off the top of your head, Kudos to you!**

**And the BONUS riddle is:**

**Some months have 30 days, while others have 31. Which month(s) have 28 days?**

**So good luck! And since the first question is informational, the first person to answer it wins the dedication/Author +/Shoutout and the first person to get the riddle wins all that PLUS the oneshot (If they want it)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. House of Shopping

**Yay! Update time…Sorry it's taken me so long! There was a new addition to my family (Welcome to the world Baby Matt!) so yea…the story.**

**But actually I do have a few things to establish before the actual story. By the way this is a super long Authors note so just bear with me here…**

**1! The answers to the question and riddle of the Day**

_**Question:**_** When is Brad Kavanagh's Birthday?**

_**The Answer was**_**: August 21****st**** 1992 (It was ok if you didn't put down the year)**

_**Question: **_**Some months have 30 days while others have 31, which month(s) have 28 days?**

_**The Answer was:**_** ALL months have 28 days! **

**I knew I wasn't going to stump you guys with that riddle, it was fairly easy. I'll try and make the riddles in the future much MUCH harder.**

**Now, I have to announce, not one, not two, but **_**three**_** dedications!**

**So congratulations to:**

**-Hoajlmtsdlsgfan for correctly answering the question of the day first! **

**-Fabina4eva for being the first to correctly answer the Bonus Riddle! You win a one-shot! If you have an account let me know so I can PM you!**

**So if you're reading this, Congrats!**

**For those readers who decided NOT to read my last authors note, please check out the end of chapter four to figure out how this works (:**

**2. I recently won pieface98's contest with my One-shot 'My Prince'! So you should check that out!**

**3. I recently created my own challenge! Go check it out on my profile if you're interested! The winners get some awesome prizes!**

**4. I have a polyvore! I'll put the link on my profile and you can just look at the outfits I have, I think I have every outfit I've mentioned between the kids, not so much the adults. I don't think I'll do the adults outfits unless I have too (Because I'm already thinking that there are a few cases in which I may really want too) My name is guitarchick27 so if you want to see some of the outfits look me up!**

**Now…**

**Onto Chapter 5!**

I felt a cool shiver run down my spine even though the hot summer sun was shining brightly in the clear skies. Looking up not a single white wisp of cloud could be found and there was barely a breeze in the air.

"Suzy, I thought we said _not_ shopping. Just a walk. Besides, I don't have a lot of money with me," I complained. Walking through what would probably be tons of stores filled with frilly pink dresses and over-priced make-up didn't exactly sound like a fun time.

"Oh please, you act like it's the end of the world. I have a credit card, I'll pay," She flashed her pearly white teeth at me. I smiled back at her shaking my head.

"I just met you and you're already offering to pay for me?" She rolled her eyes at me.

"Our parents were friends, it doesn't count. Besides, I love a good fashion cause. And you, Melanie Martin, are one in need of Susan Lewis Fashion advice," I laughed at her as she whistled holding up her hand and a cab immediately pulled up to us. I admired how in control she was of everything around her.

"Thanks Suzy, but I've been dressing myself since I'm 4 years old, I'm pretty sure I know what looks good and what doesn't," I laughed and she just looked me up and down and raised her eyebrow. She climbed into the cab without another word and told the cab driver to take us to a store called 'Levels', she then proceeded to pat the seat next to her, motioning for me to join her. I sat down and the cab took off.

"C'mon Melanie don't worry, I won't force you to wear anything you don't want to," She assured me, and I prayed she would keep her word. I wasn't exactly the kind of person who loved wearing skirts and frilly blouses. I was more of a jeans and t-shirts kind of girl. I liked being comfortable.

"Promise?" I asked. She held out her pinky and I laughed at the childish gesture, but wrapped my own pinky around hers.

"The Sacred Pinky Promise Mel, I will not _force_ you to get something you don't want, but I'm at least going to have you try things on," She grinned at me with an award winning smile and removed her pinky from mine digging her hands in her probably designer bag. I looked down at my blue knap sack bag that held my iphone, Camera and about 20 American dollars (or about 13 pounds). Her bag probably held all her credit cards, make-up and who knows what else.

"Alright, I can live with that I guess," I sighed defeated and looked out the cab's window, watching London pass before my eyes. I saw a few simple interesting things, like intricate water fountains and statues as well. I saw a music store and decided I'd go there on my own later.

Music was I guess a big part of my life, whether my mother knew it or not. I swear the moment she'd see a music note she'd run in fear. At school, we had a whole music room which I got sucked into during the third grade when I heard somebody playing a soft guitar melody. Unfortunately when I entered the room nobody was there, as if the song were in my head. I was able to figure out the notes and I taught myself guitar. I never got a chance to practice at home in fear that my mom would find out and never let me near the thing.

"We're here!" Suzy sounded excited as the cab pulled to a stop and dropped us off in front of a small boutique with a maroon colored awning and swimsuits and sundresses displayed in the window. We walked inside and the store was bigger than it looked.

"What do we do now?" I asked her and she smiled at me whipping out a plastic silver card.

"Mel you should totally get this for my party! You'd look so good!" Suzy exclaimed pulling a long shirt that was red and white stripped. I did actually kind of like it, plus I could match it with something blue to embrace my American-ism.

"Alright cool, I'll try it on," I grabbed it from her as she continued to dig through racks of clothing.

"I can't find a dress anywhere!" She exclaimed throwing her arms p in frustration. I walked around the rack to where she was standing and saw that she was looking at all different types of dresses.

"What do you mean no dresses? There are so many right here!" She looked at me like I had grown a

third head or asked her to recite 50 digits of pi in thirty seconds.

"Melanie, I'm not looking for just any dress. I'm looking for _the _dress! The one to wear to my birthday on Saturday," She turned back to the rack of dresses.

I suddenly heard a _BANG_ and looked up in search for the noise to find a woman who had knocked over a pile of boxes. I then noticed something in the rack next to her. A pink dress with black trimmings hiding behind a display of plaid shirts. Somebody must have hid it there, hoping no one could find it so they could buy it later.

"What about that one?" I tapped Suzy on the shoulder and pointed to the hidden dress. She ran over and pulled it out. Then she squealed, quite loudly, right into my ear.

"Melanie it's _perfect!_" She then let out yet another squeal bouncing excitedly.

"I think you just shattered my ear drum," I held onto my ear, wincing in pain. I then pointed to the dressing room "Why don't we go try this stuff on in there?"

"Alright! Melanie you have no idea this is SO exciting!" She was grinning from ear to ear and I grinned right back at her. Probably not as wide though. I tried on my shirt and I really liked the way it looked, though I would probably have to wear leggings underneath, not my grey jeans.

"Thanks so much for taking me shopping," I thanked her as she paid for our purchases. She handed me a small black bag and she held onto a slight larger white one.

"It was really no problem, we had fun!" She replied as we walked out of the store. She linked our arms together "If we walk a few blocks, there's a really good place I know where we can get a cup of tea and some snacks,"

"I don't really drink tea…but sure let's go!" I laughed and Suzy rolled her eyes at me.

"You don't have to get tea. I'm just saying we can grab a bite to eat," She smiled and saw something coming up ahead. She tilted her head to the left and stopped.

"Why are we stopping?"

"I think I know him," She pointed to a tall dark haired boy across the street, who had pale skin and blue eyes that were so piercing, you could see them from across the length of the road "Noah!" Suzy called out and the boy turned his head, smiling and crossing the street.

"Hey Suzy, and friend," He acknowledged us, smiling at me; he asked "You are?"

"Melanie. Melanie Martin," I stuck my hand out and he shook it before kissing it gently. I laughed and Suzy crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop it Noah, leave the poor girl alone," She sighed pushing him back and he grinned holding his hands up by his head as if he were being called out by the cops.

"I'm just treating her like a gentleman should!" He defended himself.

"There's nothing gentle about you," Suzy retorted scrunching her nose up. She then grinned and tapped his arm lightly with her delicate fist. He hit her right back a bit harder, but she made no effort to hit him back.

"Whatever," he rolled his piercing blue eyes and turned towards me "I'm Noah, Noah Clarke."

"Mel, this is another one of my parents' friends' sons," Suzy explained "Why are you out anyways Noah? Don't you and Charlie have something to blow up?"

"I was just out for a walk. I was actually headed to your house now," He explained himself "But I might just join you two lovely girls."

"Please, go right ahead Noah, you can carry our bags," Suzy smiled at him and he took a step back and made a face as if he had just tasted something bitter.

"No thank you. I'll go to your house," he turned towards me "Nice meeting you Melanie. Maybe I'll get to see you sometime in the future, yeah?" He winked before walking back down the road.

"Ignore Noah. He's _such_ a flirt," Suzy warned me, but I wouldn't be too quick to judge him. He seemed nice.

"Why do we keep running into all these old friends?" I asked, confused at the concept that we had ran into two people in one day. The statistics were highly illogical.

"Well, we all live fairly close to one another, and this town isn't all that big. We tend to see each other around a lot," Suzy explained as we walked into a small café looking place. We sat down in a booth and ordered off a little blue menu.

"Alrighty then, anyone else I should know about?" I asked curiously "Maybe you should just give me a list of 'Need-to-Know' people.

"Let me see," she replied in deep thought "Well firstly, there's my parents, Amber and Alfie Lewis. They had me, and my brother Charlie," I nodded. That much I knew.

"Then, there's Patricia and Eddie Sweet. They have twins, Jason, who you met earlier, and Kate, who'll you'll meet at my party on Saturday. They also have a daughter named Analie, but she's four so you don't really need to know about her,"

"How many kids are our age?" I questioned.

"Including Charlie and I, 5. I think," she answered "Now the boy you just met, Noah Clarke, he's the son of Jerome and Mara Clarke who also have an 8 year old boy named John. There's also another man, I don't quite remember his name, because we never get to see him. The last time I saw him must have been two years ago!"

"That's strange," This was the man Mrs. Lewis was referring to as 'You-Know-Who' "Okay so, most likely at the party we'll be around Jason, Kate, Noah, and Charlie?" I attempted to clear my thought process. Suzy nodded and I sighed. I was super bad with names, I would probably forget their faces in seconds.

"It seems like a lot of people, it really isn't. You'll know them all in no time!" She exclaimed happily, understanding what was going on in my brain. I had barely known the girl for a whole day and she could already read me like an open book.

"Thank you Suzy," I smiled genuinely at her.

"For what?" She asked puzzled. Her nose scrunched up again like it had when she saw Noah.

"For being a friend, I know you for what? A day?" I laughed at the thought.

"Time doesn't matter Melanie, I can already tell, you and I are going to be _very_ good friends,"

I smiled.

**I had no idea where to end this, so I came up with that sappy ending…**

**OMG OMG OMG .KAVANAGH REPLIED TO ME ON YOUTUBE! I'm like legit crying as I'm writing this which is probably WHY that ending was so sappy. **

**But anyway, I won't rant to you on how amazing I'm feeling. **

**A few things I'd like to point out before the questions:**

**A lot of you thought that the rude man from the hotel was Fabian. I'll let you know, he isn't. But the man DOES have a role in the story you probably wouldn't expect…**

**Jason AND Noah? Somebody already came up with a name for Jason/Melanie: Mason If anyone has ideas for Noah let me know! I smell a love triangle coming on… Let me know who you like better so far!**

**Let me know if I'm going to fast about introducing the characters. I don't want to throw them in all at once and get you guys confused. I probably won't introduce Kate for a few chapters and I won't bring Charlie back for a few either…**

**If you haven't seen it, I started my own challenge! Go to my profile and check it out!**

**That's it; I'M DONE AUTHORS NOTE RANTING! Jeez, there's just SO MUCH I could tell you guys!**

**Here's your question of the day:**

**What is the cover Brad Kavanagh has most recently put up on YOUTUBE? **

**(I promise every question won't be about him, but I'm just super excited he replied to me!)**

**Riddle:**

**You're in a mansion and the power's out. You see a green door and a red door. Choose One (It doesn't matter which). Now you see a purple door and an orange door. Choose One (Again it doesn't Matter)**

**Now you see a door with a golden handle and a door with a silver handle. Choose one of them again. You finally come to some signs on three doors. One says 'Death from Drowning', another says 'Death from electric chair' and then you see a big sign off to the left that says 'Or stay in the mansion and starve to death." What door do you choose to still live, and why would you survive?**

**Try to figure THAT one out ;) And when you review, I'd really appreciate it if you left a comment about the story, and not just the answers to the questions. **

**Thanks guys! Review!**

**~FabinaxJara-SiBuNa**


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